Inside 19 Courts-Martial at Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, 2019–2023
Kirtland AFB, New Mexico had 19 Air Force courts-martial from December 2019 to December 2023, 1% of the 1,361 Air Force cases in those years.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 5 min read
Trends › By Installation › Kirtland AFB, New Mexico › 2019–2023
Short answer: Kirtland AFB, New Mexico had 19 Air Force courts-martial from December 2019 to December 2023, 1% of the 1,361 Air Force cases in those years. The accused contested 12 of the 18 cases with a plea recorded (67%), compared with 50% in the rest of the Air Force, and 6 of those 12 ended in a full acquittal. Every conviction included confinement, with a median of 2 months.
Most Cases Were Contested
The plea is recorded for 18 of the 19 cases. In 12 of them the accused contested at least one charge, and in 6 the accused pleaded guilty. The contested share, 67%, was higher than the 50% in the rest of the Air Force.
A contested case is one where the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge, either a not-guilty plea or a mixed plea.
How Contested Cases Ended
Of the 12 contested cases that reached a verdict, 6 ended in a full acquittal (50%). That is close to the 51% in the rest of the Air Force. In 1 more case, the accused was found not guilty of some charges and guilty of others, which is a partial acquittal.
Air Force results give one verdict per case, so a partial acquittal appears in these records only when an appeals opinion reports it.
Short Confinement Terms
Of the 19 cases, 13 ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and all 13 sentences included confinement (100%). The median confinement was 2 months, shorter than the 4 months in the rest of the Air Force. A quarter of the sentences were 3 months or longer.
These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each one covers every charge in the case.
Discharges
Of 13 convicted enlisted members, 6 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (46%), compared with 56% Air Force-wide. Only 1 of those was dishonorable. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Panels in Contested Cases
Members heard 42% of the cases with the forum listed: 5 enlisted panels and 3 officer panels. A military judge alone heard the other 11. Among the contested cases, members heard 8 of 12 (67%). The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt.
Charges, Rank, and Court Level
Charges are listed for 13 cases. Article 112a (drug offenses) was charged in 4 (31%), compared with 41% across the Air Force. Article 128b (domestic violence) and Article 128 (assault) were each charged in 3 (23%). The Article 128b share across the Air Force was 5%. A case with several articles counts under each one.
The accused were 10 junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) and 9 NCOs (E-5 to E-9), with no officers. There were 4 general and 15 special courts-martial. The general share, 21%, was lower than the 53% Air Force-wide.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, all Air Force cases in those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 4 | 31% | 41% |
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 3 | 23% | 5% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 3 | 23% | 19% |
| Art. 86 AWOL | 2 | 15% | 5% |
| Art. 90 Willfully disobeying superior officer | 2 | 15% | 2% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 2 | 15% | 16% |
| Art. 134 General article | 2 | 15% | 21% |
| Art. 115 Malingering before 2019, communicating threats since | 1 | 8% | 4% |
Then and Now, and Similar Installations
In 2016–2018 the installation had 12 cases, about 4 a year, the same rate as from 2019 on. The median confinement was 2 months in both periods. Groups this small can change with a few cases.
RAF Mildenhall, United Kingdom and USAF Academy, Colorado each tried 20 cases in these years. Their contested shares were 50% and 75%, and their median confinement was 8 months and 4 months.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kirtland AFB, New Mexico | 19 | 67% | 6 of 12 | 2 months | 46% |
| RAF Mildenhall, United Kingdom | 20 | 50% | 1 of 7 | 8 months | 73% |
| USAF Academy, Colorado | 20 | 75% | 3 of 9 | 4 months | 7% |
Years and Limits
There was 1 case in 2019, 5 in 2020, 6 in 2021, 2 in 2022, and 5 in 2023. The records give trial dates, not offense dates. They do not describe the evidence or plea terms, and they leave out nonjudicial punishment and administrative separation.
| 2016–2018 | 2019–2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 12 | 19 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | — | 67% |
| Convictions with confinement | 8 of 9 | 100% |
| Median confinement | 2 months | 2 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 2 of 8 | 46% |
| General courts-martial | 25% | 21% |
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial in the data tried at Kirtland AFB, New Mexico with a trial date in 2019–2023 (19 cases), compared with all 1,361 Air Force trials in those years. Dates are trial dates.
Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in Military Trial Results, data updated October 24, 2026. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: how this data was built. Errors: content@bodiesburied.com.
Related Analysis
- Kirtland AFB, New Mexico: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Air Force Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- By Installation (hub)
- Fairchild AFB, Washington Courts-Martial, 2019–2023: What 18 Cases Show (same years, similar size)
- Goodfellow AFB, Texas Courts-Martial, 2019–2023: What 18 Cases Show (same years, similar size)
- Andersen AFB, Guam Courts-Martial, 2016–2018: What 13 Cases Show
- Aviano AB, Italy Courts-Martial, 2016–2018: What 16 Cases Show
- Aviano AB, Italy, 2019–2023: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 17 Cases
- Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, 2016–2018: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 27 Cases
- Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona Courts-Martial, 2019–2023: What 29 Cases Show
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, 2019–2023
- Thomas J. Alford
- Adam D. Bentz
- Elijah F. Brown
- Colin P. Eichenberger
- Christina M. Jimenez
- Brett A. Landry
- Vicki L. Marcus
- Charlton J. Meginley
- Andrew R. Norton
- Rebecca E. Schmidt
- Matthew P. Stoffel
- Brian Michael Thompson
Names and links only. Each judge's record of pleas, findings, and sentences is on their Know Your Judge page, part of the Court-Martial Characters membership.
About the author. Jocelyn C. Stewart is a retired Army JAG with more than 24 years of trying courts-martial and more than 200 jury trials. She hosts Where All The Bodies Are Buried and runs the Law Office of Jocelyn C. Stewart. This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.